Chapter 306: Karuizawa in August (1)

We departed from Morioka at 9:26 and boarded the Hayabusa 12 , arriving in Tokyo at 11:44.

On the first day of August, at a busy station, Toru Watanabe raised his wrist and glanced at the dial that was full of mechanical beauty.

Lower your arms, put your hands in your pockets, and focus your attention on the ticket gate.

The tourists passing by, who were originally looking for relatives and friends or looking around the foreign country, always turned their eyes to him as if attracted by gravity.

With a fair and handsome face and long legs, he was like a spotlight in the vast crowd.

Some people began to look for the camera, subconsciously thinking that the crew was filming.

The bold girls wanted to step forward, but after taking a few steps, they were looked at by the boy. The arrogant look made them retreat.

In addition, the boy in front of him was always looking at his watch. Even if he didn't show an anxious expression, he could tell that he was waiting for someone.

For a variety of reasons, Toru Watanabe only has to occasionally deal with some bold hot girls, lost female tourists, and tour groups taking photos.

Even though he is a handsome guy in Tokyo, becoming a landmark of Tokyo is too cheap for the city. At least he should endorse the soba noodles in Iwate Prefecture. Toru Watanabe took a photo with a group of elderly tourists, thinking about all kinds of things.

The train arrived on time. At 11:44, the station broadcast announced the arrival of "Falcon 12".

After a while, in the crowded crowd, Toru Watanabe saw a person dressed as a flight attendant holding Xiaolian's hand.

"Xiao Lian!" He raised his hand.

Everyone looked over.

On the contrary, it was Xiaolian, who was pulling a small suitcase and wearing a brand new dress. She kept looking around but never looked up.

In her sight, there were probably only the tourists' legs.

Only after the man dressed as a flight attendant bent down and said something to her did Xiaolian look up and look at him in surprise.

She groaned, pulling her small suitcase and ran towards Toru Watanabe.

"Archer!" She clenched her free hand into a small fist. "The Shinkansen is so fast! So amazing!"

Without waiting for Watanabe Toru to speak, she panted again, raised her hand to wipe her forehead, and said like a little adult:

"Tokyo, it's so hot."

"You're running when you're hot." Toru Watanabe rubbed her little head.

"Are you Watanabe Tetsu-kun?" The flight attendant came over and said kindly, "Xiao Lian is in your care."

Watanabe Toru hurriedly thanked him.

Xiaolian folded her hands in front of her, bent down and said, "Thank you for your care."

The flight attendant looked at the well-behaved Xiaolian and smiled happily. She said to Watanabe Toru:

"When Xiaolian goes back, please notify me in advance and I will send her back safely."

"Thank you very much!" Toru Watanabe bowed again.

"I'll help you when the time comes!" Xiaolian bowed.

The flight attendant said a few simple polite words and left immediately because he had work to do.

After watching the other person disappear at the ticket gate, Watanabe Toru turned his head and looked at Xiaolian:

"Coming to Tokyo by yourself, you are already the most amazing elementary school student in the entire island nation, Xiaolian."

"Archer, our target is the whole world!" Xiaolian scolded dissatisfiedly.

"Oh, I forgot."

"Archer has a really bad memory, but we will keep reminding you."

"Then I'll leave it to you."

Toru Watanabe reached out to take the suitcase, but Xiaolian refused.

"Before we came out, mom told us not to cause trouble for Archer."

"Is that so? Then give it to me when you can't carry it anymore."

"Yeah." Xiaolian nodded.

Toru Watanabe took her other hand and they walked towards the station exit.

"The skirt is very pretty."

"This is a new skirt. My mother bought it for me."

"Anything you want to eat?"

“Sushi!”

"I thought you wanted ice cream first."

Xiaolian stopped and looked up at Watanabe Toru: "Ice cream?"

"Yeah, ice cream."

“Not popsicles from the grocery store?!”

“Not grocery store popsicles.”

Xiaolian looked serious and nodded slowly: "Let's eat."

Ten minutes later, Toru Watanabe came in carrying a small suitcase, and Xiaolian held a bowl made of egg rolls in both hands. In the bowl were three colors of ice cream balls, some fruits, and a transparent plastic spoon.

Her eyes sparkled as if she were looking at an incredible treasure.

"Tokyo, that's amazing."

"It has nothing to do with whether it's Tokyo or not." Toru Watanabe took out his cell phone and took a picture of her.

Send the photo to the group.

"Xiao Lian, I got it" (Toru)

"Take good care of her and remember to send more photos. I'll give it to her mother." (Watanabe's mother)

"Yes, sir."

"Hurry up" (Meiji)

"Here it comes" (Toru)

After leaving the station, Xiaolian stared blankly at the tall buildings.

But the next moment, she felt dizzy from the scorching sun and looked at Watanabe Toru: "Toru, Tokyo is so hot."

"You'll just have to get used to it." Toru Watanabe said he had no choice.

There is only a "sunny doll" that makes the city sunny, but no hyacinth for praying for rain.

Quickening their pace, the two got into the car that was waiting for them.

The air conditioning made Xiaolian so comfortable that she lost consciousness for a moment, and then she politely greeted everyone:

"Sister Rin, Sister Miki!"

"Hello, Xiaolian." Qingye Rin returned the greeting.

Kujo Miki nodded.

"And this side." Watanabe Toru introduced the two people in the front seat, "This is Miki-sister's mother, Aunt Maki; this is Rin-sister's mother, Aunt Yuko."

Xiaolian sat down and bowed: "Nice to meet you, I'm Xiaolian."

"Good boy, do you want to sit in your aunt's arms?" Kiyono Yuko turned around and said to Xiaolian with a smile.

Xiaolian looked at her for a while, then turned to look at Watanabe Toru, and grabbed Watanabe Toru's sleeve with the hand that was not holding the ice cream.

"Very cute." Mrs. Kujo withdrew her gaze from the rearview mirror and stepped on the accelerator.

When the car passed the Imperial Palace, Xiaolian forgot to eat her ice cream and put her face close to the car window.

She looked out curiously, and when she could no longer see, she turned back.

"Archer, what is that place?"

"The Imperial Palace." Qing Ye Lin answered on behalf of Watanabe Toru, "Xiao Lian, who is the current emperor?"

"Deren." Xiaolian raised her hand and answered in a quick tone.

"What was Tokyo's old name?"

Xiaolian put her hand down.

"Edo," said Qing Ye Lin, "in July of the fourth year of Keio, which was September 1868, it was renamed Tokyo. Remember this well, I will test you again when I come back."

Xiaolian looked at Watanabe Toru.

"There's no point looking at him. If you can't answer, I'll teach him a lesson as well."

"You're meddling too much in other people's business." Miki Kujo glanced coldly at Rin Kiyono.

"I don't think it's meddling to exercise the right to educate your sister in advance." Qing Ye Lin said calmly, "Children should be educated well from the beginning."

"I'm a little surprised that Xiaolin is such an educational mother." Qingye Yuko turned around and said with a smile, "What about Miki? How do you plan to educate your children in the future?"

"Study hard when you should study, and play hard when you should play."

"Xiao Lian." Kiyono Yuko smiled kindly.

"Um!"

"Which sister's education method do you like?"

Xiaolian turned her head and looked at Watanabe Toru.

"I have to tell mom about picking up Xiaolian." Toru Watanabe took out his cell phone.

"You've already said that." Qingye Rin said lightly.

"It seems my memory is really not good." Watanabe Toru put away his phone, "Xiao Lian, the ice cream is about to melt, eat it quickly."

"Huh?!" Xiaolian was shocked, "It was almost wasted!"

She quickly lowered her head and put the food into her mouth one bite at a time with a spoon, showing an expression of enjoyment.

Miki Kujo twisted Toru Watanabe's thigh.

"I really don't know how to educate!" Watanabe Toru cried out in injustice.

The two mothers in the front row laughed happily.

As we left Nerima, drove out of Tokyo and entered Saitama Prefecture, the scenery became more and more pastoral.

Xiaolian had been leaning against the car window after eating the ice cream. At this moment, she finally turned back and asked Watanabe Toru:

"Archer, when can we see Tokyo Tower?"

"Tokyo Tower?" Watanabe Toru was stunned for a moment, "I forgot to tell Xiaolian that we are going to travel to a place called Karuizawa and will not return to Tokyo until the end of the month."

Xiaolian opened her mouth and looked at him in disbelief.

"Archer, this is not right! Mom wants me to adapt to life in Tokyo!" she corrected loudly.

"Karuizawa is Tokyo's back garden. Living there is actually a part of your future life in Tokyo, so it's part of 'adapting to life in Tokyo,'" said Toru Watanabe.

Xiaolian's eyes widened: "Really?"

"It's fake." Qing Ye Lin said, "But there's no need to adapt to Tokyo in August. It's such hot weather. Xiaolian, you will live with your brother in the future and you won't stay in Tokyo in this kind of weather."

"I stayed in Tokyo last year," said Toru Watanabe.

"Then we can take Xiaolian out to play." Mrs. Qingye said with a smile, "Saint Petersburg in Russia, Copenhagen in Denmark, Vienna in Austria, Paris in France, Xiaolian, where do you want to go?"

"Archer." Xiaolian looked at Watanabe Toru again.

"If you don't want to go, just stay in Tokyo with your brother and enjoy the air conditioning," said Toru Watanabe.

"Yes." Xiaolian nodded, "Mom asked me to stay with Archer when I get to Tokyo."

Toru Watanabe touched her little head.

"Xiao Lian, let me ask you another question. Why did my mother mention these cities? The hint is to avoid hot Tokyo."

"Wow, Rin-chan is so strict." Kiyono Yuuko was exaggeratedly shocked.

"The next generation of the Kiyono family will be elites." Mrs. Kujo followed and teased Kiyono Rin.

Qingye Rin didn't care at all. She looked at Xiaolian, and Xiaolian also looked at her.

It takes three hours to drive from Tokyo Station to Karuizawa. I wonder how much Xiaolian can learn during this time.

…

"…At an altitude of 1,000 meters, even in midsummer, it doesn't feel hot at all because it is surrounded by peaks such as Mt. Asama, Mt. Hinagi, and Usui Ridge."

"Karuizawa is amazing!"

At some point, Xiaolian had already run between Kiyono Rin and Kujo Miki.

"We're here." Mrs. Kujo parked the car in an open space of a forest villa.

Larch and birch trees grow lushly, and you can hear the chirping of birds and the flow of streams.

The sunlight fell through the green leaves, forming beams of light. Xiaolian subconsciously reached out to touch the sunlight.

Although this is a forest, it has a different kind of refinement from Mizawa Village.

Not to mention the temperature, it was cool and pleasant even though it was noon on August 1st.

It is a summer resort where people can enjoy the fun of summer without being too hot.

Toru Watanabe looked at the detached villa in front of him, which had a terrace with rattan tables and chairs for drinking coffee and dining.

"If I had known Xiaolian was coming, I would have chosen a villa by the lake," said Kiyono Yuko.

The reason they chose the forest villa was that before they came here, they had been in the Pacific Ocean and were tired of looking at the sea water.

"Lake?" Xiaolian came back to her senses and looked at her expectantly.

"Well, Auntie will take you swimming and playing golf later, okay?"

"It's too early to play golf," said Toru Watanabe.

"We want to go swimming!" Xiaolian stood on tiptoe and raised her hands as high as possible.

"Let's go swimming!" Yuko Kiyono high-fived her raised hand.

"Before that, let's go shopping first." Qing Ye Lin hugged her elbows and said, "Don't forget that I didn't ask the servants to prepare anything this time."

Xiaolian dropped her hands in disappointment.

Yuko Kiyono grabbed her slender wrist that she was about to let go and lifted it up again.

"Go buy a swimming ring!" she shouted.

Xiaolian raised her head, and her eyes were filled with light again.

"Let's buy a swimming ring!" she shouted happily.

"Well - Xiaolian is so cute, please be my daughter." Kiyono Yuko hugged Xiaolian and rubbed her face against hers.

The flesh on Xiaolian's face was pressed down, and she reached out to grab Watanabe Toru's trouser leg.

Mrs. Kujo watched this scene and said to Kujo Miki, "I thought I was very young, but when I saw Xiaolian, I suddenly wanted grandchildren."

"I'll be seventeen in a month," said Kujo Miki.

"I am indeed very young." Mrs. Kujo stroked her face and said intoxicatedly.

Kujo Miki didn't bother to pay attention to her mother and made a phone call: "Send five adult bicycles, one children's bicycle, and a mobile phone."

The six people went into the villa, took a look around, and assigned rooms.

"Xiao Lian, the bicycle is here!"

Hearing Watanabe Toru's shouting outside the house, Xiaolian, who was hanging up her clothes one by one with her two wives, shouted "Bicycle!" and ran out impatiently.

Outside the villa, in the shade and sunshine, six brand new bicycles are parked on the carpet-like fallen leaves.

Xiaolian stretched out her short legs and ran to the smallest one.

This is a children's bicycle with two training wheels on the rear wheel.

Xiaolian had already lost herself in the sight of it, imagining herself riding it and ringing the lovely bell on the forest trail in Karuizawa.

That scene must be very cool.

"Xiao Lian," Kujo Miki squatted down and hung the mobile phone with a thin string around her small neck, "All of our phone numbers are stored here, as well as your mother's."

Xiaolian looked at the brand new cell phone and then looked at Watanabe Toru.

"Don't look at him. The things I gave you were given by your brother. The same goes for others ." After a slight pause, Kujo Miki added, "Including your knowledgeable and nosy sister Rin."

Xiaolian looked at her, then at her cell phone, and finally at Watanabe Toru.

"Your sister Miki is right." Watanabe Toru nodded.

"Okay, try your bike." Toru Watanabe picked up Xiaolian and put her on the children's bike.

Xiaolian sat on it, holding the handlebars with both hands, and it took her a long time to come back to her senses.

"Archer, photos! Photos! We need to show them!"

"Look here, we're going to shoot!"

"Hmm!" Xiaolian frowned and straightened her little back.

After taking the photos, the five people, plus the impatient Xiaolian, left the villa.

On both sides are the main roads of the forest, with small paths extending out, and at the end of each path is a villa.

To Xiaolian, who was riding a bicycle, the structure before her was full of mystery. It was a world she had never imagined.

Everything was shining, the wind blew her hair, her young face was slightly dazed, and only her feet subconsciously stepped on the pedals.

The other five followed behind her.

If they rode bicycles together with Xiaolian's children's bicycle, the speed would be so slow that they might not even be able to stand up on the bicycle.

The air was cool and Toru Watanabe stretched lazily.

"It's more comfortable to be in a place with fewer people like this. When I picked up Xiaolian just now, everyone thought I was an idol, or they treated me like the Tokyo Tower and wanted to take pictures with me."

"Have you considered making your debut?" Mrs. Kujo said with a smile, "I will personally make you a big star."

“Not interested in being famous.”

"If you become a star, can't you just play Ultraman?" Kujo Miki laughed.

"What else is 555?" Qingye Rin agreed.

"Come on, you two, stop it. I've graduated from my chuunibyou!"

"I've heard of Ultraman, but what is 555?" Mrs. Kiyono asked curiously, holding her daughter's hand.

Qingye Rin raised her chin slightly to Watanabe Toru and said, "Put on a show."

"I'm seventeen years old," Toru Watanabe firmly refused, "If I were one or two years younger, I might still be able to perform and be proud of it."

Qingye Rin smiled.

She wasn't laughing at him for lying or for suddenly being shy at this moment, but because these words came from "The Great Gatsby", which was the first book Toru Watanabe borrowed from her.

A little tacit understanding known only to the two of them.

"I want to see it, too." Mrs. Kujo put her hands on her daughter's shoulders, poked her head out from behind her, and looked at Watanabe Toru expectantly, "Watanabe-kun, please show me a performance."

"Meiji..."

"If your mother wants to see it, just perform for her, dear." Miki Kujo said with a smile.

“…”

"I'm going to leave you here!" Xiaolian, who had ridden far away, turned back and shouted loudly.

"I'm coming!" Watanabe Toru walked up quickly, "Xiao Lian, I'll push the cart for you."

"So fast! So fast!"

"Captain, please keep the direction and don't crash into the forest!"

"We are the captain?"

"Yes, you are the Captain!"

"We are the captain!"

The two of them shouted and ran towards the commercial street.

"We've graduated from chuunibyou, but we're still just kids." The two young ladies said at the same time as they watched the two people walking away.